OverviewSome true stories make the best stories. Miss Mary Shepherd, or "Miss S.," was an eccentric woman who lived out of a van. English playwright Alan Bennett met her in the early 1970's when it broke down near his home. With complaints by neighbors about her being parked on the street and interruptions to his work because he often witnessed children tease her, Bennett allowed her to live temporarily in the van in his front garden. After Bennett befriended her and started to see the world through her eyes, he allowed her to stay until her death 15 years later.